Kyle Austin

Mrs. Boone
Bridging the Arts
13 March, 2016
A Symphonic Dance
On February 28, 2016 I attended a performance Ballet West with the Utah
Symphony presented at Maurice Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City. George Balanchine,
Gerald Aprino, and Helen Pickett choreographed Ballet Wests performances. In total,
there were four performances witnessed that evening, but I am going to write about two
of the dances performed.
The first performance, An American In Paris, was composed by the late George
Gershwin, and was conducted by Thierry Fisher. At points, the rhythm would jump
between an almost frantic staccato, and bend the audience back to a flowing legato, only
to be brought back into a bold crash course with snares and percussion instruments. This
piece featured a classic French melody intertwined with a bold Yankee American root that
often jumped between an andante and allegro tempo.
Another element that supports this American in France idea is the transition in
energy between loud, to easeful and soft, back to playful and booming timbre. The
changing tempo and rhythm combined with the jazzy French horn, trumpets, saxophone,
and bassoon during transition between legato and staccato moments with a familiar tone
created a vivid perception related to the title of the piece. A young American roaming the
streets of France succumbed to the inevitable joy from diving into a new culture and
experiencing a new world.

One of the more peculiar moments for me was almost halfway through the
production when there was decrescendo into a calming single note melody consisting of
strings transitioned into a short but playful violin solo, which was then built upon by a
French horn, saxophone, and other brass instruments. From this point, the now familiar
melody was adopted into a wave of scale changes; and each scale change was
accompanied by a unique set of instruments. For example, the higher scales were mostly
strings accompanied by soft instruments such as the harp, and with little percussion
elements added, while the deeper, bolder scale was accompanied with crashing cymbals,
louder percussions, and held together with brass instruments.
I also found it interesting that the ballet dancing did not start until the last half off
the piece. Because I was focused on the music for so long, the ballet portion was almost
unexpected at this point. But, it did add an artistic value in the costumes of the dancers
extended the interpretation the title hints towards.
The late Maurice Ravel composed the third performance, Concerto in G Major
for Piano and Orchestra, and was conducted by Thierry Fisher. In this performance, the
key instrument found throughout was the piano. A large portion of this performance
featured the melody played by the piano, however, further into it strings were added in
harmony to the piano with use of the flute, and cello for the continuous bass flow. The
tempo started in adagio, but towards the end built up to allegro. One of the more notable
features of the way the piano was played. It started out as a faint, warm, almost uplifting
ethereal melody, and with a flow of repeated low to high notes introduced a dream like
trickling effect.

This sense of a dream was also complimented by the stage lighting on the stage.
Unlike the previous performances where the lights were dimmed in the crowd bringing
the attention to the entire symphony, all of the lights, with the exception of a hue of
purple and blue focused on the pianist, were lowered. This hue of calm lighting brought
the focal point to the pianist, the performing dancers, and complimented the dream like
energy and timber also created with the piano, tempo, and other instruments.
The overall interpretation of the two productions combined to me would be a love
story found in France involving a travelling young American that begins, and ends only
as a dream. An American In Paris was composed of constant changing rhythms with
crescendos back into decrescendos while maintaining a somewhat familiar American
based melody intertwined with French tones. This could be related to how one could feel
while travelling in an unknown area of the world. Nervous, but excited, experiencing the
joy of coming across new and unfamiliar, while at the same time recognizing similarities
from the world you left behind. In Concerto in G Major for Piano and Orchestra, with
the mesmerizing trickling technique of the piano with the stage lighting implemented a
calming dream like state, which was confronted with a dense crescendo of intense
energy; to then fall back into a trickling, peaceful melody. This could be interpreted as
waking up from a dream in the middle of the night you did not want to wake up from,
only to realize that it is still early in the night, so you choose to fall back to sleep to face
another dream.